Kafka Streams vs RisingWave: Which is Better in 2026?
Kafka Streams and RisingWave are both Stream Processing tools, made for different people. Kafka Streams is for Java and Scala teams already on Kafka who want stream processing inside their own services without another cluster. RisingWave is for teams that want streaming pipelines written in Postgres-style SQL, with results they can query directly or land in Iceberg.
Quick verdict
There’s no single winner; pick on your constraint. Choose Kafka Streams if your events already flow through Kafka topics. Choose RisingWave if you want streaming jobs as SQL rather than Java.
Kafka Streams vs RisingWave: Side by Side
| Kafka Streams | RisingWave | |
|---|---|---|
| Category | Stream Processing | Stream Processing |
| What it is | Stream processing library for Kafka | Streaming database |
| Write jobs in | Java, Scala | PostgreSQL-style SQL |
| Licence | Apache 2.0 | Apache 2.0 |
| Where it runs | Inside your own application | RisingWave Cloud, BYOC or self-hosted |
| How you pay | Free | From $0.227 per RWU-hour on Cloud Basic |
| Pricing | Free | Free · paid from $0.227/mo |
| Starting price | Free tier available | Free tier available |
| Free tier | ||
| Rating | 4.4 | 4.4 |
| Best for | Stream Processing: Kafka, microservices, no extra cluster | Stream Processing: streaming SQL, Postgres-compatible, Iceberg |
Ratings are App Stack Builder’s editorial score out of 5, not an average of user reviews.
Pros & Cons
- No extra cluster to run
- Deploys like a normal service
- Exactly-once with Kafka
- Free with Kafka
- Kafka in and Kafka out only
- JVM languages only
- Local state stores need care when rebalancing
- Plain Postgres-style SQL for streaming
- Native Iceberg integration
- Apache 2.0 engine
- Published cloud rate
- Younger than Flink
- Pro and enterprise pricing by quote
- Not a general-purpose transactional database
Key Features Compared
Kafka Streams
- Client library: input and output live in Kafka clusters
- Standard Java and Scala applications; deploy to containers, VMs, bare metal or cloud
- Exactly-once processing semantics
- No separate processing cluster required; scale by running more instances
- Ships with Apache Kafka (4.4) under Apache 2.0
RisingWave
- Apache 2.0 engine; connects over the PostgreSQL wire protocol (psql, JDBC and Postgres tools work)
- Ingests from databases, event streams and webhooks and updates results incrementally
- Native Apache Iceberg integration with a hosted REST catalog and table maintenance
- Cloud Basic from $0.227 per RWU-hour on AWS, GCP or Azure, up to 64 cores, 7-day trial
- Cloud Pro (BYOC, no core limit) and self-managed licences priced by sales; network billed separately
Choose Kafka Streams if…
- Your events already flow through Kafka topics.
- You want processing deployed and scaled like any other microservice.
- You don’t want to operate a separate streaming cluster.
Choose RisingWave if…
- You want streaming jobs as SQL rather than Java.
- You want to query the live results from any Postgres client.
- Your output goes to Apache Iceberg tables.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is Kafka Streams better than RisingWave?⌄
There’s no single winner; pick on your constraint. Choose Kafka Streams if your events already flow through Kafka topics. Choose RisingWave if you want streaming jobs as SQL rather than Java.
What is the difference between Kafka Streams and RisingWave?⌄
What it is. Kafka Streams: Stream processing library for Kafka. RisingWave: Streaming database. Write jobs in. Kafka Streams: Java, Scala. RisingWave: PostgreSQL-style SQL. Where it runs. Kafka Streams: Inside your own application. RisingWave: RisingWave Cloud, BYOC or self-hosted. How you pay. Kafka Streams: Free. RisingWave: From $0.227 per RWU-hour on Cloud Basic.
Kafka Streams vs RisingWave: which is cheaper?⌄
Kafka Streams pricing: Free. RisingWave pricing: Free · paid from $0.227/mo. Confirm current pricing on each tool's official site, as plans change.
Which is rated higher, Kafka Streams or RisingWave?⌄
On our editorial score, Kafka Streams is 4.4 out of 5 and RisingWave is 4.4 out of 5, so they are level. This is our own score, not an average of user reviews.
When should I skip both Kafka Streams and RisingWave?⌄
Skip Kafka Streams if you read from or write to systems other than Kafka. Apache Flink has many more connectors. Skip RisingWave if you need custom stateful logic in code. Apache Flink gives you lower-level APIs.
Sources · tool facts checked November 2026
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